WREXHAM manager Brian Carey admitted he endured a roller-coaster of emotions during Saturday’s winner-takes-all clash with Boston at the Racecourse.

The Dragons had to come back from a half-time deficit to secure the 3-1 win that secured their Football League status and sent opponents Boston into the Conference and Carey confessed it was a close call the club could not afford again in the future.

“The first half was dreadful to be honest because we didn’t look like a team and we didn’t play like one,” he said.

“In our last four games we have played with a degree of freedom but we got ourselves bound up in the occasion today, particularly in the first half.”

If falling behind to a Francis Green goal was not bad enough, Carey was also aware at the break that his insurance – a Macclesfield home defeat to Notts County – was not looking good

“At that stage it looked like Boston were staying in the league and that we were dropping into the Conference, which would have been a huge crime,” he added.

“But credit to the lads, they stuck at it and got the right result.

“We needed to wake up at half time because the first half was just nonsense. It was shocking for such an occasion, with 12,500 people in the ground, but we could not raise a gallop.

“It took Boston to score a goal for us to string two passes together and why that should be we’ll never know.

“I was aware of what Macclesfield were doing, so at half-time we were heading for the Conference and that’s what we told the players.”

But a penalty 10 minutes into the second period put Wrexham level, defender Ryan Valentine holding his nerve to beat former Wrexham favourite Andy Marriott from the spot, and Carey’s side never looked back.

Nevertheless it was not until the final 10 minutes that goals from Chris Llewellyn and Michael Proctor put the outcome beyond doubt.

“Ryan deserves credit for stepping up to take the penalty, but that’s something he is good at,” added Carey.

“It was important we finished well because people have gone home seeing a few goals.”

Speaking before joint owner Geoff Moss confirmed that Carey would lead the club into a new season in August, the manager said: “I don’t know what the future holds but I’d love to do the job, to be honest.

“It’s been an honour and a privilege to do it for the short time that I have and I’d like to carry on.

“It’s not a question for me but this club has been a huge part of my life and today is the springboard because this should never be allowed to happen again.

“For a club like this, and with the support it can muster, it would have been a crime to go down.

“Our run-in has been good and that augurs well for the future, but we’ll take stock now and see what the future holds.”

But Carey also praised his backroom staff and said he would not have been confident of remaining in charge if Wrexham had been relegated.

“I think it was a bit of a gamble if I’m being honest to give me the job in the first place because I’m untried, unproven and untested and I’m not too sure if the club could have afforded to gamble again,” he said.